Rage of Aquarius

Zodiac Chillers #1

by Carol Ellis

One by one, grieving and guilty teenagers find themselves slowly dying to be with their dead friend Becky, who reluctantly took up one of their dares, and lost her life as a consequence.

Genres: Young Adult, Horror

169 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 1995

About the author

Carol Ellis is an American author of young adult and children’s fiction. Her first novel, My Secret Admirer, was published in 1989 by Scholastic as part of their popular Point Thriller line.

She went on to write over fifteen novels, including a few titles in the Zodiac Chillers series published by Random House in the mid-1990s, and two titles in The Blair Witch Files series for young adults, published by Bantam between 2000 and 2001.

Reviews

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an actual Point Horror, but close enough for shelving purposes. Body count: four dead teens. Sadly I worked out what was happening early on, but this was still fun. Especially the mall death. Every 90s YA horror should feature at least one death in a mall.

[Grace Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was NOT a "back from the dead" book. There was no ghosty element whatsover, bummer!! But it made up for it with lots of murdery vibes and a satisfying ending.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I put it on my new age shelf because there is a lot of horoscope talk in this book and it just seems fitting.

Secondly, I love the title of this book! I'm wondering if Carol Ellis came up with that title herself or if she was told "You're writing about a girl who is an Aquarius...fit that in the title."

Man...I now realize how old I am. Any way...

I know this series was meant to have 13 entries and only ended up with six books though the titles and plots of two other books surfaced so I was beginning to think that these Zodiac Chillers just might not be good books.

But when you have a writer like Carol Ellis (I love Camp Fear) and Bill Schmidt of Fear Street fame doing your cover artwork around a time when books like this were a dime a dozen, you have promise.

For the first entry, Aquarius isn't that bad. A girl named Becky and her friends are up at a cabin and they all dare her and each other to jump of the cliff. Last minute hesitations result in Becky being the only one to end up fatally hurt.

Six months after her death, the group of friends are going in different directions. Alex and Diane break up, Kara and Tony are dating, E.J. is pining away for Trish and Brad is without the love of his life. It's also that time of year when the zodiac favors Aquarius...and notes with the sign of The Water Bearer start arriving.

They sound like Becky but they predict doom and one by one...each of the friends start dying.

Is it a vengeful spirit or a flesh and blood person is what races through your head as you're reading and the outcome is...okay I guess depending which kind of endings you like. It's a bittersweet one is all I can say and a good read for fans of Ellis' writing.

[Yunie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really lucky to be able to get a copy of this book! As an Aquarius myself, I was excited to read this book. Overall I absolutely enjoyed this story! It was short but too the point. There was adequate suspense build up, and the twist was excellent. The last few chapters kept me on edge! As far as the writing quality goes, it was much better than what I expected. Dare I say the writing was even better than the Fear Street novels.
If you can get a copy of this, I highly recommend it.

[Erica Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off: perfect title. Obsessed. Rounding up just for the title.

This started off with too many characters, but lucky for me, there were less I had to remember by the end. 🔪

Very ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ but the killer is WAY into astrology. Like maybe a little too much. 💫

Also: beware of Geminis

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

so stupid and insane lol but i had a great time

[Casey Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE WORKS OF CAROL ELLIS, 1945-2022

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

My mother, Carol Ellis, passed away on November 5th, 2022. While she'd been retired for some time, she spent years making her living as an author for children and young adults. When I was a kid, I was tremendously proud of her status as a writer, but she always seemed vaguely embarrassed by it. As I grew older, she told me she didn't enjoy the process of writing, and I'm sure that was part of the problem but there was also something deeper. My mother was an extremely self-deprecating person, inclined to critique herself to a fault. As such, I think she was uncomfortable with her public status. Also, as an avid reader herself, I think she decided early on she would never measure up to the books and authors she admired. It saddened and confused me to hear her dismiss her writing and, from time to time, even become cynical about the whole concept of telling stories. This never lasted very long because she enjoyed reading too much, but it was still depressing. Later on, I would occasionally try to change her perspective by pointing out the long and (in my view) proud tradition of popular fiction authors, people who, yes, wrote largely for money but gave years of joy to millions of readers. She would just shrug and say something like "Sure, but I wasn't even that good." Even in the past few years, when I would tell her how so many people online would respond with comments like "Oh wow, I LOVED your mom's books growing up!" if I mentioned her in a comment to a post or video, she would brush it off. "Doesn't it make you happy, knowing people still like your work?," I'd ask. She'd shrug or look away and reply, "Sure, I guess so."

Despite her indifference, my mother's career as a YA and children's author was substantial. A conservative estimate would put the number of books she wrote or co-wrote somewhere north of 50, and there were shorter works as well. She's best remembered as a fixture of Scholastic's Point Thriller line from the late 80s to the mid 90s, but her work ranged over several genres and publishers, her career lasting from the late 1970s till 2017; in the weeks following her death, I started discovering material she never even mentioned to me.

Through the years, despite sharing my mother's passion for reading, I rarely read her work. While she didn't exactly come out and say so, it was pretty clear she'd prefer I not. There were occasional exceptions and, towards the end of her career, I sometimes assisted her, both as a researcher and as an uncredited co-author. But her main body of work seemed like something she didn't want to get into much, so I largely avoided it. Now I've lost her forever and, partially to distract myself from the grief but also to try and create some sort of memorial to her, I've decided to read through her works and comment on them here.

As I mentioned, my mother's writing career was extensive. A large portion of her work was ghostwriting for others and even a fair amount under her own name were series works where she was more less told what to write. There were also nonfiction works which were pretty tightly controlled by the editors as well. While I know she gave every project her all (no matter how little she enjoyed some of them) and no doubt put her stamp on all she wrote, I'm primarily interested in the peak of her career, that is novels written under her own name and over which she had at least some degree of artistic control. This comes out to 20 or so books. While I have most of these works, there are still some I'll have to search for online and in used bookstores.

There's no point in pretending these "reviews" will be objective. All the books will get 5 stars, although I will be honest about elements of my mom's work I don't care for. Mixed in with my comments on the books will be memories of the creation of those I was old enough to be aware of, memories of my mother and her thoughts and comments on the books, and thoughts about the culture and industry that shaped her career.

I have no illusions that my mother was some sort of literary genius. But her work touched many readers nonetheless. She was also an incredible human being, one of the kindest people anyone could hope to meet. I will miss her terribly for the rest of my life. My hope is these commentaries will act as a tribute to her and bring back some good memories for those who grew up with her work, just as they preserve some cherished memories for me of a very cherished person.

RAGE OF AQUARIUS

Getting into this one is really kind of a heart breaker. The launching of the Zodiac Chillers line was something I was very excited about as a kid. With a lot of New Age-oriented things floating in the cultural air at the time, I remember thinking the books could be really big, and this would be a line kick started by and staring my mother, unlike the Point Thrillers where she was, while well regarded, ultimately just one of a large stable. I enthusiastically helped out with some astrology research and even talked out a few ideas with my parents, though I don't believe any ended up in the books. But the Zodiac Chillers failed to make an impact on the market. While I don't have one specific memory, I have vivid recollections of my parents' disappointment and the ugly mood it caused. It really did feel like something had shifted and, in retrospect, I recall that period as one of the last times my parents showed any genuine enthusiasm about a writing project. Many years later, when I mentioned these books in passing to someone who was talking about astrology, that person found the idea of the books charming. I told my mother and, while she almost always hated talking about her books, she was especially tight-lipped that time. It didn't occur to me then but I think I dredged up some still painful feelings. I really wish I hadn't said anything.

Back to the Zodiac Chillers themselves; the line's failure certainly wasn't from a lack of effort. Published by Random House (as opposed to my mom's long time publisher Scholastic) the books featured beautifully campy cover art (by Bill Schmidt) and a humorous zodiac-themed author bio, in which I'm mentioned. Even better, there's a questionnaire (valid through December 31, 1995 in the first book) for the reader to fill out and mail to Random House. The first 1,000 would get sent what's first described as a "cool astro-pendant," later clarified as "an awesome moon-and-star necklace." The design of this (no doubt cruddy) necklace was clearly meant to be the line's logo and it appears at the bottom of every other page.

A lot went into these books and I'm sure my parents weren't the only people hurt by their failure. In fact, the whole project was aborted early. In-book teasers promise thirteen volumes but it seems only eight were ever published. My mom wrote the first three and I think there might have been plans for her to return had the line continued. Alas, it was not to be and, apparently, copies of the books are quite scarce today, probably because printing was halted when it was clear they weren't selling.

What went wrong? I'm not sure but some memories provide a few clues. I distinctly remember my parents discussing astrology-themed thriller ideas at least a couple of years before the first Zodiac Chiller was written. I don't know if it was their idea or something an editor suggested. The reason this sticks so well in my mind, aside from being an idea I thought was really cool, has to do with a horrible but now little remembered true story. Between 1990 and 1993 three people were shot and killed, and five others seriously wounded in New York City by someone who sent taunting, zodiac-referencing letters to newspapers and the police. Some wondered if the infamous and never caught Zodiac Killer from the 1960s had reappeared. I particularly recall this because it was the first I'd ever heard of the unsolved Zodiac Killer case, and the whole concept was pretty damn scary to young me. I also recall several nervous conversations between my parents about how these attacks would impact a potential zodiac-oriented novel. They weren't sure if the case would turn people off or draw them in. If that sounds slightly distasteful, they'd agree! But try to remember, the life of freelance writers is a tough one. You have to jump on opportunities and maximize any chance for success if you want to survive. On the other hand, especially when you're writing for younger readers, the issue of appropriateness is always going to be a potential fault line. My parents often fretted about moral panics and, looking back, it's also to be remembered that they were working in the shadow of the Satanic Panic, which had people seeing the Devil's influence over everything from rock music to board games. YA authors like my mom were often sharply critiqued for writing “trashy” and “amoral” books. Leaving aesthetic issues aside, what I think adults who disapproved of these books missed was that very few of the authors were following their artistic whims and desires. They were underpaid contract workers for the publishers. While the author's level of control varied from project to project, they were ultimately not in charge. All well and good if someone disapproved of this kind of book, but the source of the perceived problem was not the author deciding to do something.

In any event, the so called New York Zodiac turned out to be unconnected to the 1960s case. In 1996, one year after the first Zodiac Chiller was published, police arrested Heriberto Seda for attacking his half-sister, who thankfully survived. Before long, evidence was discovered proving Seda had committed the 1990-1993 assaults and killings, and mailed the zodiac-referencing letters. As of now, (August 2023), Seda is still in prison, serving what is effectively a life sentence.

While I doubt many teens and tweens were paying any attention to this dreadful story, it's certainly possible that it contributed to a vague “anti-zodiac” mood among their parents. It's also entirely possible that the line just randomly didn't connect, as will sometimes happen, even when the stars seem perfectly aligned.

What I find particularly funny reading the first Zodiac Chiller, “Rage of Aquarius,” now is how innocuous the book really is. The zodiac/astrology angle is just a colorful background element. Otherwise “Rage of Aquarius” is a fairly standard murder mystery, and a really good one at that! The structure of the plot (which one of the group is the killer?) and the plucky heroine are overly familiar from my some of my mom's other books by now. However, unlike in “The Stalker,” they don't feel at all rote. There's a lot of good pacing and some wonderfully grim atmosphere. I figured things out somewhat before the finale but, for a good while, the puzzle was enjoyably knotty.

So I'd say this is a fine mystery, very much representative of my mom's style, but not nearly as campy as the cover promises. I wish it had been more of a success but such is life. Last thing, I REALLY want one of those astro-pendants!

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked this up for nostalgia’s sake, as this is a book my dad bought me when I was a preteen. Books have always been important to me, and he gave me this during a rough time in our family’s history. Looking back, however, I couldn’t remember the plot at all. When I saw this for $.50 at a used book store, I brought it home. Not terrible, but not great. I considered picking up some of the other books in the series on EBay, but I don’t think it’s worth it. If you find a copy for less than $1, go for it. Otherwise, you’re not missing much.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I was able to find a copy of this book! (Thanks, Interlibrary Loan.) This was as delightfully cheesy as I remember it being, and gets 4 stars for pure nostalgia only.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Ever since I rediscovered a long-forgotten series from the 90’s a few days ago, I’ve been down a rabbit hole searching for more. Every time a cover pops up that I swear I didn’t remember until the exact second I see it, I’m just so irrationally excited.

That’s what happened when I saw this book cover pop up. I don’t really remember anything about this series, but the cover of “Pisces Drowning” also sparked some memory in me, so I know I at least read that one in addition to this first one.

I really doubt I will ever be able to track down any of these books, but I want to mark them on Goodreads so I don’t lose them again.

[Xzavier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scariest book I've ever read

[Amber Wiser · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read these books when I was younger and once again nostalgia caught up with me so I picked this series up again. So far all I can say is that its okay.